1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a switch-controlled, ballasted, low-frequency, ultraviolet device adapted to be mounted, by means of a tension rod, inside the housing of the air return of an air-conditioning unit to retard, or otherwise destroy, the bacterial accumulations and growth of mold spores or slime on and around the wet cooling coil and drain pan of such air-conditioning unit, aggravated by continually recirculating air.
2. Background
Since early 1970, air-tight buildings especially, sometimes referred to as "sick buildings", have been constructed in the United States to prevent energy loss resulting from air leakage and which have resulted in the trapping therein of toxic chemical gases emitted building furnishings and consumer products, the trapping therein of other pollutants such as high levels of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, environmental tobacco smoke, formaldehyde, carbon dioxide and varieties of airborne allergens and pathogens, and, last but not least, Legionella, commonly referred to as Legionnaire's disease, attributed to air-conditioning units, as causing some 5,000 to 7,000 deaths per year in the United States. Bacterial accumulation and slime around wet cooling coils and drain pans is a common condition, aggravated by continually recirculating air.